How to stand out as a tarot reader

The tarot space is a crowded one. Especially in the last few years, when it seems like everyone got into tarot and launched a TikTok account…

One thing I’ve talked about a lot with fellow readers offline is how to stand out in such a crowded environment. Especially when it seems like everyone is doing daily card readings online, or going live on YouTube or Instagram to read for the collective.

“Do I have to do that, too?” you might have wondered if you’ve been trying to build up your presence as a reader.

My answer is no. If you follow me on social media, you’ll see that I don’t do a lot of collective readings. It’s on a rare occasion when I’ll pull a card or two for an Instagram live. But otherwise I enjoy talking about different topics and I like to leave space for other things.

Kind of like what I do here in my newsletter: I want to give something that might be helpful to those of you read these emails (thank you for being here). And personally, I would feel too limited if I was only doing card pulls on social media.

There’s so much more I want to say and share. And I enjoy writing, so having this newsletter works for me.

When you’re trying to figure out how to stand out online – whether it’s for your tarot work or anything else – that’s what you want to think of first: What will you enjoy doing, and what do you think will be helpful to put out into your community?

That’s why mimicking what other people are doing – such as daily draws or endless collective readings – doesn’t work. Especially if you know you have a unique perspective, or if you see opportunity for different types of conversations to be happening with the community.

Business is creative. But it’s also strategic. And it’s also a bit experimental.

Because you don’t always know what will work for you until you try.

Which is also why it doesn’t help to replicate what everyone else is doing: What works for one person might work for them for reasons you can’t always see from the outside.

And what will work for you might be something you’re not so sure about at first.

“I’ve heard that I should give people what they want instead of what I think is fun or interesting.”

This another piece of advice that floats around a lot. Yes, you do want to know what matters to your clients – that’s something I talked about in my workshop last week about building your 1:1: client base.

You definitely want to understand what your clients are looking for, because they’re going to be looking for someone who gets them.

But that doesn’t mean you have to remove your personality or your passions from your business altogether.

I think that’s especially important in the tarot industry, because it’s so, so easy for our clients to project their own ideas and hopes onto us as readers.

How many times have you read for someone who assumed you would be able to read their mind, or make some kind of outlandish prediction? How many times have you had to explain to people what your approach to tarot is, and why it’s different from what you see in the movies?

We have to be focused on our clients, but we can’t lose ourselves in their wishes and wants.

Straying from what you want to work on in your tarot practice, and who you want to serve, or chasing after the wrong clients is a fool’s errand: You won’t be happy in the work you’re doing, and you won’t feel authentic in how you’re showing up to promote your tarot readings.

Standing out as a tarot reader starts with knowing who you are:

• What do you bring to the table as a reader?
• What defines you as a person?
• What drives you to read cards for others? 
• And what do you feel your mission is as a diviner?

These are things that will help you start to stand apart. Just be real. Be who you are.

And if you are interested in joining me to learn about how to share more about yourself by starting a newsletter for your tarot or spiritual business, I’m running a workshop tomorrow about how to build a mailing list. It’s a great alternative to building community away from social media.

Details are here.

Let me know if you have any questions.

~ Liz